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Thursday March 28, 2024

PBC introduces new voices with national songs

Islamabad It was good to see the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Pakistan) break out of its shell and get engaged with the public directly when the Radio Pakistan arranged a 'National Songs' singing programme at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) auditorium on Independence Day evening. And the

By Mobarik A Virk
August 17, 2015
Islamabad
It was good to see the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Pakistan) break out of its shell and get engaged with the public directly when the Radio Pakistan arranged a 'National Songs' singing programme at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) auditorium on Independence Day evening.
And the effort drew an enthusiastic response to the extent that the organisers must be repenting as to why they didn't thought of arranging the show at a venue with much, much bigger space to accommodate the audience.
The chief guest of the function, Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Heritage, Senator Parvaiz Rashid, was pleased as he sat through the function almost till the last moment. And he had a right to be pleased and proud because it was indeed an Independence Day after a long time in the terrorism infested Pakistan when people came out without any fear and thronged the roads, markets, streets and parks.
The Director General of Radio Pakistan, Syed Imran Gardezi, in his a bit stretched speech, highlighted the importance and achievements of his organisation. It is a fact that Radio Pakistan irrefutably has the widest coverage in the country and is a 'voice of Pakistan' abroad but it has lost the glory of yester years because of the invasion of electronic media, especially the private TV channels.
But Gardezi seemed to be confident that he would clear the dust accumulated and wipe off a few ugly smudges which have smeared the face of Radio Pakistan and will make it more vibrant and effective as it used to be not more than a decade ago.
He rightfully took pride by saying that the Radio Pakistan played a highly valuable role during the recent floods as it continuously kept the people abreast with the latest situation in the flood hit areas, enabling them to take preventive measures for their protection and safety.
How much support Mr Gardezi is going to muster up from those running this giant organisations since Pakistan came into being remains to be seen because the fact remains that 'status quo' is the name of the game and to bring about a change strong effort, dedication and conviction is required, which seemed to be not there for quite some time!
The launch of the 'national songs CD' (compact disc) was one imaginative initiative taken by the Radio Pakistan on this Independence Day. One wishes that the Radio Pakistan would continue to come up with more such initiatives in future as well.
The young women and men, who took to the stage to present their songs, prepared for the occasion sung good. (Somehow I have the feeling that they were 'lip singing'). They had good voices, have a command over the basics of singing and the poetry also was good. But what was lacking in their songs was spirit and emotions. Like one feels in the songs of legendary Madam Noor Jehan, Ustad Imanat Ali Khan, Habib Wali Muhammad, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, Mehdi Hassan and others. But all of these young men and women certainly made a good effort.
It was felt that if the peers in Radio Pakistan may continue to encourage them and provide some proper training, some of these singers can really sung much, much better.
The singers who performed on the occasion include Ms Kiran, Shakeel Asghan (wrote the poetry and composed the music as well), Mr Shahryar, Mr Samar Muneer, Ms Saima, Sarmad Qadeer, and Waqar Ahsan. Prominent singer, Humaira Channa, was to appear in the programme too but she was abroad and disappointed her fans at home on the occasion. The singers were presented with the 'Certificate of Appreciation' by Minister Senator Parvaiz Rashid.
The poets, who wrote poetry for the singers included Dureshahwar Tauseef, Shakeel Asghan, Tahir Parwaz, Sohail Parwaz, Raziuddin and Tariq Hashmi. The last two, Raziuddin and Tariq Hashmi missed the function and the rest were awarded 'Certificate of Appreciation' by Parvaiz Rashid.
The minister also awarded 'Certificate of Appreciation' to the Station Director of Islamabad Station of Radio Pakistan, Ms Kaneez Fatima, and Ms Kanwal Naseer, who conducted the programme so nicely. The Station Director of Multan Station of Radio Pakistan also received the 'Certificate of Appreciation' as the 'producer of the programme' while he also received the award on behalf of one of the composer from Multan who could not attend the function.
The Federal Secretary Information, Broadcasting and Heritage Muhammad Azam also spoke in the end to conclude the function. He appreciated the efforts put in by each and every individual who contributed their part in preparing and presenting such a good function. He also expressed the hope that the Radio Pakistan will continue to come up with more such programmes in future to promote nationalism aimed at creating national harmony.